vaults

Noun

vault (plural vaults)

1. An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
   • The decoration of the vault of Sainte-Chapelle was much brighter before its 19th-century restoration.
2. Any arched ceiling or roof.
3. (figuratively) Anything resembling such a downward-facing concave structure, particularly caves and the sky or firmament.
   • The stalactites held tightly to the cave's vault.
4. The space covered by an arched roof, particularly underground rooms and (Christianity, obsolete) church crypts.
5. Any cellar or underground storeroom.
   • to banish rats that haunt our vault1730, Jonathan Swift, A Panegyrick on the Dean
6. Any burial chamber, particularly those underground.
   • Holonyms: catacomb, cuniculus

   Synonyms:

   sepulchre, sepulcher, tomb, crypt, mausoleum

See all 22 meanings of vault